Big Up Radio on your iPhone

In the first of a series of posts with radio from the iPhone it seems righteous to kick off with something incredibly Ronseal—that does what it says on the tin. When you are lying in bed at night there are some moments when only uninterrupted reggae will do. On some occasions this leads to my default evening FM station Conscious FM or—on a Wednesday night at 11pm in the UK—the absolutely incredible 50-50 Soundsystem show on Resonance FM (post coming soon). However an alternative for the technology fetishists amongst us is to download the free Big Up Radio app for the iPhone.

Big Up is, according to its page, a loose collection of reggae enthusiasts in the California area that started broadcasting together in 2000. Their website looks like its been put together in a long, democratic committee meeting (just toooo much to read / listen to / click on for anyone with a job) but their iPhone app is the bomb.

It may only be a music jukebox service, but sometimes simple is great. Boot it up, spin the wheel to the station you want to listen to and plug it into your speakers. Cue a non-stop reggae music mix. I know that for the musically literate Last FM can do something similar (you do have to know what artist’s station you want to start with), but Big Up proves that there is life in the no-presenters idea. The skill with all of these things is picking the right music, and Big Up do this very well—check the ‘Lovers Rock’ or ‘Steady Rockin’ Roots’ channels for the sweetest prelude to sleep.